Even years later, Grumpy couldn't fully recall the trial. He could barely focus on anything but keeping his composure throughout most of it. Emil didn't take his eyes off of him, cursing him and shaming him for his past mistakes, and Grumpy half-expected the family to turn on him. But they didn't.
Honesty called out Emil with increasing venom until she ordered his silence. Emil responded by insulting her, and Grumpy couldn't stand that. He snapped his fingers and Emil could no longer speak. Honesty and the rest of the clan jumped on that with glee and what followed was nothing short of evisceration. When they began debating on what to do within the scope of their power, Snow arrived with a thunderous Florián, and the matter was swiftly settled. Emil was arrested for stealing from the queen and given to the Dwarfs to do with as they wished for what he'd done against their family.
"When they consider you even, then they may release you," he said, and Snow's pretty face was as serene as ever as Emil, allowed to speak again, begged her for mercy.
"Where was his mercy?" Snow asked sweetly, gesturing at Grumpy. "Or mine, when you threatened to violate me on the road from Alirgos just because it would hurt Grumpy the most?"
That caused an eerie silence to fall as Florián turned to gaze at Snow with a mix of shock and horror. Without another word, Honesty ordered Emil thrown in jail again until she could talk to the other clan heads and find out what they thought would be adequate punishment. By that point, Grumpy couldn't handle being there any longer. He turned and began stumbling back toward the cottage. Soon after, his brothers caught up with him and guided him back home.
Doc insisted that Grumpy rest in their room while they brought the kids back. Grumpy didn't argue and fell asleep before he knew it. He awoke with a shout and a scramble at his shoulder, but Doc was right there in an instant, clasping his hands and soothing him.
"Been having a rough time of it?" Sneezy asked, turning over in his bed to face Grumpy.
"A bit," Grumpy managed to mutter. He shivered and tugged Doc onto the bed then leaned against him. "What's goin' on?"
"Alas, we have been banished to our room until supper so that we can rest while Grandmama fills the rest of the clan in on what happened," Sleepy said dramatically, and the room burst out laughing at his posh tone.
"We're not stewing, ah, doing much for the rest of the day," Doc said.
"Tomorrow we're redoing the holiday with the kids and then there's the celebration in town with the clans about the treasure the day after that," Happy said. He was lying down and looked sleepy.
"Is it always this busy when you come here?" Grumpy asked.
"In a different way," Bashful admitted. "Don't get much sleep here, but I don't mind."
"How bad do you want to sleep?" Grumpy asked.
Everybody perked up. "You have a potion?"
"Yep. Dopey, get my pack."
Dopey obeyed and carried it over. Grumpy reached in and dug around as his magic twinkled around his hands. He finally pulled out a purple potion. The brothers looked gleeful.
"After supper," Doc promised.
After supper came quickly enough, and the seven brothers went back to bed at once. There was some good-natured teasing, but nobody stopped them. As soon as they were in bed, Grumpy carried them the potion and let them each take a swallow. By the time he got back to his own bed, most of them were already snoring.
"Night, Brother," Doc murmured sleepily. "Don't stall, um, fall out again."
Grumpy snorted. "I fell out of bed?"
"Mmhm," Doc laughed. "Lots and lots."
Grumpy fought back a smile as he swallowed a mouthful of the potion before corking it and setting it aside. Sinking down into his bed, he fell asleep and had no dreams.
The next morning, Grumpy awoke to find his brothers trying to pull themselves out of the drowsiness left over from the potion. They were all a bit sluggish, and Grumpy was very amused.
He rolled out of bed, yawning. "Coffee will help," he promised.
"Coffee ain't made," Happy said. "Nobody's up."
"Then make coffee," Grumpy said.
"Can't," Sneezy said, sniffling. "We ain't allowed in the kitchen."
Grumpy scoffed as he got dressed. "Sure didn't stop me, now did it?"
It took a moment for his brothers to register his words, and they all looked up as he headed for the door.
"Wait! You've made coffee?" Happy asked. "Here?"
Grumpy nodded and left the room. His brothers scrambled to get dressed before they hurried out into the silent house. It was very early, the sun not even over the horizon, and the house was cold. Grumpy threw a ball of fire into the fireplace just like he'd been doing at home all winter then headed straight for the kitchen. Without a word, he pulled out the calculations and set to work on making coffee. His brothers stood anxiously at the edge of the kitchen.
"You ever had the chance to cook for the family, Happy?" Grumpy asked idly.
"Nope," Happy murmured.
"I done it twice. What say we make it three?"
Still they hesitated. Then Doc laughed and stepped forward over the invisible barrier. "Book, ah, look at us!" he said. "You've always wanted to cook for them, Happy, so we will. What do you want us to bake, er, make?"
Happy stepped into the kitchen then began peering around. "How about papa's favorite?"
"Yes!" Sleepy and Sneezy exclaimed. Dopey clapped and skipped over, ready to help.
"Okay then," Happy said. "I need eggs. Should be in the lime buckets over there. And flour. And…"
Happy trailed off then began to pull out what they'd need. Sneezy was exiled from the kitchen, and Happy told him that if he touched a bit of food, he'd flay him alive.
"I want this meal to be good so I might be able to do it again," Happy said sternly, his hands on his hips. "And you can't cook."
"Suits me fine," Sneezy said. He was quite used to being excluded from the kitchen. "Guess I can wash dishes."
Happy was pleased by this and agreed. The seven brothers set out to make the holiday breakfast. The kitchen was bigger than theirs, naturally, which meant they had more space to work. Following Happy's instructions, the kitchen was soon full of good smells and warmth. They were so busy that only Grumpy noticed Honesty coming into the living area. She froze and stared at the kitchen, open-mouthed. Grumpy gave her a cheeky grin and a wink then prepared her coffee. He sashayed over and held out the cup, eyes shining.
"Mornin', Grandmama," he said carefully.
The disapproval that had been hovering in her eyes disappeared and she gave a fond smile as she took the cup. "Knew you'd get there," she said. "Didn't know it involved men in the kitchen though."
"Happy's always wanted to show you what his… our ma taught him. And you've never let him," Grumpy explained softly.
"Grandmama?" Happy suddenly asked, and Grumpy and Honesty turned to see all six of the others frozen and waiting for judgement.
Honesty studied them then shrugged. "We'll see how it goes."
They all relaxed as Honesty sat down to watch them. Grumpy slipped back into the kitchen and resumed cooking.
Half an hour later, Honesty quelled the uproar that Charming and Constancy tried to start when they came out to find not only Grumpy, but all seven brothers in their kitchen. They settled down but never lost their dour expressions as the rest of the family began to come out of their rooms.
The children stampeded out very soon afterwards, clamoring for their presents and for the holiday they hadn't gotten to enjoy properly. Before that could begin, Happy called that the food was ready, and the family sat down for the first time in front of a meal made by him. Grumpy saw him duck down the stairs looking a bit sick, but he said nothing. He personally thought everything tasted amazing, but Happy's food always did. He watched the rest of the family and was amused by the incredulous muttering from most of the womenfolk. When Happy crept back upstairs, Constancy turned on him.
"Where did you learn to cook like this?"
Happy scratched his head, bewildered. "Well, Mama taught me of course. You expected her to feed all of us all by herself just 'cause we ain't got sisters?"
There was a pause then Rationality chuckled. "That is a very good point. I don't believe we've ever considered that."
"What, you think we're gonna eat everything raw?" Grumpy challenged. "Only Sneezy can't cook, and you'd better remember that from now on."
There was another surprised silence as everybody stared thoughtfully at him. Then Honesty conceded. "I suppose you got a fair point. It ain't been fair, Happy. You're welcome in the kitchen anytime. The others… we'll see."
Happy practically glowed with pleasure and he fixed his own plate then hurried to sit with his brothers. Breakfast was over pretty quickly because the children wanted their presents. They scrambled into a circle in the large living room then settled around, waiting with grins of anticipation. Grumpy watched with interest. Empathy glanced over at Dopey, who didn't join them. He shook his head, and she shrugged then turned away.
Grumpy sat with his brothers as the presents were passed around. He fully expected to not receive even one gift, but he didn't care. Having a family to celebrate with was gift enough. So he was very surprised when he received several packages. He could do nothing but take them, and yes, his name was scrawled on the tags. There was already a chatter of voices as the children ripped into their gifts. Grumpy set aside three packages and opened the first one to find candy. He relaxed a bit. That was from the womenfolk. He was fine with gifts like this.
The second package also contained a holiday treat, this time fruitcake, and Grumpy was very happy with this gift. One of his girls, Sofie, would make him one a year every year until his disappearance. He occasionally could get a piece from the brothers if it lasted long enough to make it home with them, but now he had a small cake all for himself. He wrapped it up for later then grabbed a rectangular package and pulled off the paper to reveal a book. Puzzled, he ran his fingers over the blue cover then opened it to find letters. He frowned as he scanned the first one then nearly bit his tongue off as he stifled his cry. His face betrayed none of his surprise as he casually shut the book and set it aside, but his insides were hot as he grabbed the last gift and unwrapped it.
A pendant fell out, and he caught it before it hit the floor. What he saw gave him pause. It contained the same stones that Doc had used in Snow's tiara, only much smaller, surrounding two others in a circle. They lacked nothing, pure and perfect as any Dwarf could want, and the gold was of the highest quality. He stared at it, amazed by what he knew this represented. He looked up at Diligent, who met his eyes and nodded. Grumpy nodded back then lowered his gaze back to the gift. Then he nudged Doc.
"Look at this."
Doc glanced over and popped a piece of candy in his mouth before he caught sight of the pendant. His eyes widened and he leaned over to peer at it. Then he looked up at his uncle and smiled. Diligent nodded again then turned to his own gifts and began to unwrap them. Grumpy passed around the pendant, and all of his brothers handled it with great care. They knew what it meant as much as Grumpy.
On a golden chain was a pendant. Set in gold were nine gems, a diamond up on top for Doc, with a white opal, a sapphire, and an aquamarine—Bashful, Sleepy, and Dopey—on one side and a black opal, a ruby, and a garnet—Grumpy, Sneezy, and Happy—on the other. They formed a circle around two gems in the center, a white onyx and a honey-colored chrysoberyl, which must be for their parents, Determination and Charity. He was officially part of the family.
Slipping the pendant around his neck—he saw no reason not to wear it on the holiday at least—he looked around, a warm feeling surging through him. He had a home where he was welcome and a family who loved and would protect him. It was more than his childhood self had ever dared to dream. And tomorrow he'd get to spend some time with his girls.
"Happy holiday!" Empathy called, laughing with a beautiful new doll. "Happy holiday everybody! But we've got to do the story now!"
"Who should tell it?" Honesty asked.
"Sleepy!" the room called as one.
Sleepy grinned and hopped up to begin the tale. Grumpy was too busy staring at Diligent's gift to listen much, but Sleepy could always tell it again later. Leaning into Doc, he contentedly looked around at the family he'd just begun to know, and he couldn't wait to learn more.
'For clan and kin,' he thought, and for the first time he understood it perfectly.